Energy illiteracy stopping Australians from cutting power bills

A lack of trust in electricity retailers and energy illiteracy is slowing Australians in driving down their power costs.

A survey carried out in April of more than 1000 people in Sydney and Melbourne found people had less trust in power companies to act in the public interest than both banking and the media, and they want electricity companies to provide them more information to help control energy usage but don't know enough about the technology available to help themselves.

Rising power bill prices have changed the way many Australians are consuming energy.

"Rising energy costs are driving increased energy awareness among consumers and simply providing comparative data with other households is no longer considered good enough," the study said.

"Almost 70 per cent of respondents revealed they would like energy companies to supply them with more information to better understand and control household energy use."

The former head of EnergyAustralia and Ausgrid and now a consultant at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, George Maltabarow, said the shift to using digital meters has been slow but recent high power prices had forced many Australians to reassess how they use electricity.

However, less than half of those surveyed felt they had enough understanding of smart meters to effectively use them for demand management, which is when energy companies call on users to reduce or shift consumption to a different time to free up more power.

Mr Maltabarow said there is a growing need for more demand management to help consumers control their energy usage, however, "there are some levels of misunderstanding about what this is and demand management is still underdeveloped in Australia".

A lack of understanding and clarity around energy consumption is helping to drive up power bills.Credit:Peter Stoop

"Consumers have different levels of engagement but technology is helping them to transition to greater control of their power consumption.

"With smart meters, they are more able see when to shift their consumption from peak to off-peak times," he said.

"This level of control benefits the electricity grid too, negating the need for extra costly infrastructure to manage peak loads. Again, this also has the potential to reduce the cost of energy to the end user – so everyone benefits."

Mr Maltabarow said the growing number of smart meters is also helping to integrate more solar power.

"Around one in five Australian households have solar, which is allowing consumers to take greater control of their power usage as well as the ability to push power back into the system."

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As the number of solar rooftop and battery storage systems increase, however, many installers are facing issues because the diverse number of state-based connection rules means they have to change the way they operate in each state.

Energy Networks Australia has begun developing a new guideline to create an overarching set of new national grid connection rules, removing inconsistencies between states.

It will also allow consumers to play a greater role in the energy system as they can more easily connect to the grid.

"The existing state-based system have been a major issue of frustration, particularly for solar and battery system installers," ENA chief executive Andrew Dillon told Fairfax Media.

"Up until now, networks have responded to the challenges of the growth in rooftop solar and storage options by adopting their own – often different – technical requirements and connection processes.

"These guidelines are about creating new avenues around the grid's future role and changing the network for more two-way flows of energy."